December 29, 2021

Virgin Orbit and Arqit Expand Launch Agreements (Source: Space Daily)
Virgin Orbit has announced has signed a new launch contract covering two dedicated launches for Arqit Quantum, Inc. a global leader in quantum encryption technology, plus additional commitments. The two Arqit satellites delivered to Earth orbit by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne air-launched system will be the core component of Arqit's Platform-as-a-Service, delivering the root source of randomness to all Arqit data centers using Arqit's ground breaking Quantum protocol ARQ19. (12/28)

NASA Selects New Members for Artemis Rover Science Team (Source: Space Daily)
When NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, explores and samples the soils at the Moon's South Pole, scientists anticipate it will reveal answers to some of the Moon's enduring mysteries. Where is the water and how much is there? Where did the Moon's water come from? What other resources are there? What other questions could VIPER answer? NASA sought ideas and recently chose eight new science team members and their proposals that expand and complement VIPER's already existing science team and planned investigations. (12/28)

Starlink Is Quietly Expanding, But Speeds Are Getting Worse (Source: Forbes)
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, is slowly but surely expanding its coverage area across the US and beyond. According to a new report from internet data and analytics firm Ookla, as the company expands, its speeds seem to slow down. Starlink seems to be the best satellite internet provider on the market. According to Ookla, the company offers far and away the fastest download speeds, with a media speed of 87.25 Mbps (megabits per second). By comparison, competitor HughesNet offers median speeds of 19.30 Mbps, while Viasat achieved download rates of 18.75 Mbps.

Starlink is the only satellite internet service provider that is offering speeds that are comparable to fixed broadband providers, and the only one offering a connection that would meet the minimum threshold for broadband speeds (25 Mbps). Similarly, Starlink offers faster upload speeds than the competition. The media upload speed for Starlink clocked in at 13.54 Mbps — again, above the broadband threshold of 3 Mbps. It also significantly outpaced its competition. HughesNet achieved a media upload speed of 2.54 Mbps, while Viasat clocked in at 2.96 Mbps.

Now for the bad news: As Starlink slowly rolls out to more customers, it appears as though the company is experiencing slower median speeds. During the first quarter of 2021, Ookla clocked Starlink’s median download speeds at 97.23 Mbps and upload speeds at 13.89 Mbps. In the months since, Starlink’s median download speed has declined by nearly 10 Mbps, and upload speeds by 5 Mbps. Starlink is launching more satellites to increase its expansion, so speeds may improve. (12/23)

Billions of Starless Planets Haunt Dark Cloud Cradles (Source: Space News)
An international team composed of French, Japanese, and Spanish astronomers has found about 100 planets floating freely in space rather than orbiting stars. Extrapolating this sample to the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy suggests that there are billions of undiscovered starless planets tumbling aimlessly through space. Free Floating Planets (FFPs) have been known for about 20 years, but their origins have been shrouded in mystery. Are they born naturally in the cold cradle of an interstellar dark cloud, or do they form around stars like other planets, only to be exiled into eternal darkness?

The small number of known FFPs has limited chances to investigate them. In this research, the team compiled and analyzed around 100 TB of data taken over the course of 20 years, including data from new deep wide-field observations obtained with the best infrared and optical telescopes in the world (like the powerful Subaru Telescope's mosaic cameras, HSC and Suprime-Cam), to search for FFPs in the Upper Scorpius OB young stellar association.

After rejecting background stars and galaxies, they ended up with a catalog of 70-170 FFPs, depending on the selection criteria used, as well as more than 3000 more massive associated members. This almost doubles the number of known FFPs. The sheer number of FFPs found in this sample cannot be explained by the process of planets forming naturally from the contraction of small gas clouds in interstellar space. This indicates that planets formed around stars and then banished to the blackness must be an important contribution. (12/28)

FAA Delays Starship/Boca Chica PEA to 28 Feb. (Source: SpaceX)
The FAA had intended to release the Final PEA for Boca Chica Starship/Super Heavy launch operations on 31 December 31. However, SpaceX is currently drafting responses for the over 18,000 public comments received on the Draft PEA. SpaceX is also preparing the Final PEA for the FAA’s review and acceptance. In addition, the FAA is continuing consultation and coordination with other agencies. The planned 28 February release will allow the FAA to review the Final PEA, including responses to comments, and coordinate with agencies at the local, State, and Federal level.

The completion of the environmental review process does not guarantee that the FAA will issue an experimental permit or vehicle operator license to SpaceX for Starship/Super Heavy launches at Boca Chica. SpaceX’s license application must also meet FAA safety, risk, and financial responsibility requirements per 14 CFR Chapter III. FAA cannot issue a decision document, which could include a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) or decision to initiate and environmental impact statement, until all consultations are complete. (12/28)

Spanish Launcher Startup PLD Space Closes a Series B Investment Round of $28 Million (Source: Space Daily)
PLD Space, the Spanish company that leads the space launch business for small satellites in Europe, has just closed a Series B funding round of $28 million. This operation, which brings the total capital raised by PLD Space to more than $50 million, will allow the company to advance in its upcoming milestones of value: the launch of its MIURA 1 suborbital rocket at the end of 2022 from El Arenosillo (Huelva), MIURA 5 orbital vehicle manufacturing and its launch in 2024 from French Guiana. (12/28)

Glaciers in Himalayas Melting at ‘Exceptional’ Rate (Source: Independent)
Glaciers in the Himalayas are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world, threatening the water supply of millions of people in Asia, new research warns. The study, led by scientists at the University of Leeds, found that in recent decades, Himalayan glaciers have lost ice 10 times more quickly than they have on average since the Little Ice Age, when glaciers expanded around 400-700 years ago.

The ice loss is occurring so quickly, the research team described the rate as “exceptional”. The researchers reconstructed the extent and ice content of 14,798 Himalayan glaciers to reveal how large they were during the Little Ice Age. The model revealed that the glaciers we see today have now lost around 40 percent of their area, shrinking from a maximum of 28,000 square kilometres to around 19,600 sq km today. (12/27)

Visual Displays in Space Station Culture (Source: Space Daily)
The International Space Station Archaeological Project is the first archaeological study of a human habitat in space. Because of the prohibitive cost of travelling to space, archaeologists have had to think of creative ways to investigate the material culture of the space station. One method is to analyze the thousands of photographs taken of the space station's interior.

Authors Dr. Justin St. P. Walsh, Dr. Wendy Salmond, and Dr. Alice Gorman have been analyzing the photographs, and have presented their findings in the December 2021 issue of Current Anthropology in their article "Visual Displays in Space Station Culture: An Archaeological Analysis." Beginning in January 2022, for sixty days, the authors will also be performing the first archaeological experiment in space. The crew will be documenting the station's in-situ material culture. (12/28)

Nimble Chinese Satellite Grabs Hi-Res Images of US City in Seconds (Source: South China Morning Post)
The Beijing-3 small commercial satellite can take images while rotating at up to 10 degrees per second, a speed not seen on a satellite before. Coupled with AI on board, the satellite can monitor up to 500 areas of interest around the globe with nearly 100 revisits a day. The one-tonne commercial satellite launched by China in June performed an in-depth scan of the core area of the San Francisco Bay (3,800 square kilometers).

Most Earth observation satellites must be stable when taking images because attitude control mechanisms can produce vibrations that blur the images. But in this experiment on June 16, the Beijing-3 rolled and yawed wildly, the dramatic motion changing the angle of its camera’s line of sight to the ground when flying over North America. The movement allowed it to capture a larger area than satellites have managed until now. The image, taken from an altitude of 500 kilometers, had a resolution of 50 centimeters per pixel. The satellite can take images while its body was twisting at up to 10 degrees per second. (12/28)

China Launches Secret Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a mysterious satellite early this morning. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 6:13 a.m. Eastern carrying a satellite called Tianhui-4. Chinese media called the launch a success but disclosed no information about the satellite other than its name. Previous spacecraft named Tianhui have been Earth imaging satellites. (12/29)

JWST Component Deployments Underway (Source: Space News)
NASA has started the long and risky process of deploying the sunshield on the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA said Tuesday it lowered into position two structures that hold the five-layer sunshield. That sunshield will be unfolded and stretched into position in the next several days, allowing the spacecraft's telescope and instruments to cool to temperatures only a few dozen degrees above absolute zero. Project engineers have called the sunshield deployment process one of the riskiest elements of the mission, but also said they were confident, based on extensive prelaunch tests, that it would be successful. (12/29)

Virgin Orbit SPAC Approved, But Proceeds Halved (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit will get less than half the capital it originally expected to receive from its SPAC merger. Shareholders in NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC, voted Tuesday to approve its merger with Virgin Orbit, with the merger expected to close by the end of the month. When the merger was announced in August, the companies said the deal would raise up to $483 million, but in Tuesday's announcement of the shareholder vote, they said the proceeds of the merger were just $228 million, of which $68 million came from the SPAC itself. That suggests a high rate of redemptions by SPAC shareholders, an issue with SPAC mergers in general in recent months. (12/29)

India Wants Space Self-Reliance (Source: Telangana Today)
A new Indian space industry trade organization wants to make the country self-reliant in space. The Indian Space Association, established in October, includes both major government contractors as well as startups. The group's director general said the organization plans to work with Indian government agencies on efforts such as new policies and regulatory frameworks needed for the industry to grow. (12/29)

Astronaut Clifford Passes Away (Source: CollectSpace)
Former NASA astronaut Rich Clifford has died at the age of 69. Clifford, an Army aviator, joined the NASA astronaut corps in 1990 and flew on three shuttle missions from 1992 through 1996. While at NASA he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but flew on his final shuttle mission with only NASA doctors and his mission commander knowing his diagnosis. He died of complications from Parkinson's. (12/29)

Smallsat Launch Contest (Source: Orbital Transports)
Technology Investor and Entrepreneur Peter Wokwicz is teaming up with Orbital Transports to offer you the opportunity to launch your best idea into space. The SmallSats Contest is offering a $10,000 prize, a public announcement, and if desired the opportunity to be involved in the design, build, launch, and operation of a small satellite. We want to hear what you think can be launched into space that will improve some aspect of the world as we know it.

The winner will be chosen based on a combination of social or economic value. The idea must do good for the world and/or demonstrate a path towards profitability, be economical to build and launch, and fit within 2U or less of payload volume. If your entry is chosen, you will win $10,000, receive a public announcement and recognition, and have the opportunity to be involved in the smallsat's design, build, and operation. Submissions will be received through the SmallSats Contest website, www.smallsatscontest.com. (12/29)

Musk Says SpaceX Will Land Humans on Mars in 10 Years in the Worst-Case Scenario (Source: Business Insider)
Elon Musk said SpaceX will land humans on Mars with its Starship rocket in 10 years' time, in the worst-case scenario. During an episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast released on Tuesday, Fridman asked Musk when he thinks SpaceX will land human beings on the Red Planet. After a 20-second pause, the billionaire replied: "Best case is about five years, worst case 10 years."

Musk told Fridman that the determining factors included "engineering the vehicle," adding that "Starship is the most complex and advanced rocket that's ever been made... The fundamental optimization of Starship is minimizing the cost per ton to orbit and ultimately cost per ton to the surface of Mars," Musk told Fridman. Currently, nobody can fly to Mars for one trillion dollars, Musk told Fridman. "No amount of money can get you a ticket to Mars," he said on the podcast. (12/29)

More Private Rocket Companies are Set to Light Up Space Coast with Launches in 2022 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Delays aside, 2022 could see five companies performing regular launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with many more from Kennedy Space Center. “The Eastern Range received 225 requests to launch from the Cape in the past 365 days," said Space Force Brigadier Gen. Stephen Purdy. "We prepared to launch 172 times and entered countdown for 41 of those, with 36 successful launches.” Those 36 liftoffs could climb significantly in 2022 and, eventually, rocket launches could happen daily or beyond. Click here. (12/28)